The Perseus cluster, known for its immense size and stability, is now under scrutiny as astronomers have discovered a dark matter bridge that suggests a historical massive merger. This breakthrough challenges the view of Perseus as a "relaxed" cluster, indicating there may be deeper complexities in its formation. Dark matter, which constitutes a significant amount of the universe's mass, plays a critical role here, influencing the gravitational dynamics of the cluster. The team utilized data from the Subaru Telescope to identify gravitational lensing phenomena, enhancing the understanding of the cluster's structure and history.
This is the missing piece we've been looking for," said study coauthor James Jee, a physicist at University of California, Davis, in a statement about the work. "All the odd shapes and swirling gas observed in the Perseus cluster now make sense within the context of a major merger.
Dark matter is the invisible substance believed to account for around 80 percent of all mass in the universe. While we can't interact with dark matter, its gravity appears to be responsible for governing the shapes of the cosmos's largest structures.
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